


Longbows and Your Anatomy

by HSavinien



Series: Nonfiction: Medieval Weapon Rants and Bullet-pointed Infodumps [6]
Category: TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms
Genre: Archery, Battle, Death, Fanwork Research & Reference Guides, Gen, Human Biology, Nonfiction, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Shipwrecks, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-23
Updated: 2015-01-23
Packaged: 2019-09-13 11:39:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16891908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HSavinien/pseuds/HSavinien
Summary: By request, an elaboration on anatomical changes and the longbow.





	Longbows and Your Anatomy

**Author's Note:**

> snappleeducated:  
> So I saw your post about different bow types in the Hobbit (which is really really awesome btw, thank you for writing!) and in it you mentioned that the longbow will actually deform a user's back and shoulders. Could you elaborate more on that? Is it strictly muscular, and if so, which muscles are involved? Are there ways to avoid it? Thanks so much for your time! :)

Okay.  First: I am not a biologist.  

With that in mind:

  * I’m talking about hours of practice every week for _decades_. There was an actual law passed that English men had to keep in practice and the only sport allowed on Sundays was archery.  There were penalties for failing to be in conditioning and in practice should the need arise for their service.

  * Kids started learning shooting at about age 7-9 to do this.

  * Most of what we’ve got for hard data on this comes from the recovery of the ship _Mary Rose_ , built in 1510 and sunk in 1545.  On that ship were longbows and archers.

  * Which means archer skeletons.  (Exhibit from the Mary Rose Museum).

  *   * It’s not just the muscles - far from.  The man’s spine is twisted, his left arm bones have actually become more dense from the stress of supporting the pull of the bow and the finger bones on his right hand show grooves from pulling back the string.

  * Forensic archaeologists also report bone spurs and deformation of the shoulders and shoulderblades, left elbows and wrists.

  * As far as muscles do go, the drawing of the bow has been likened to lifting a 100 lb. block of concrete using only two fingers.  Crazy super-developed upper arm and back strength.  I don’t honestly know which muscles in particular because see above re: not a biologist.  I could guess, looking at a medical diagram, but I could offer no guarantee that that guess would be accurate.

  * As for how to avoid such things…uh, don’t practice for hours every day for thirty years?  There is some info here from [Modern Longbow Archers](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.longbow-archers.com%2Fheavybows.html&t=MDFmNWQyYTYxNjQ5Nzc4OWJmOTMzODhmMDBjMDE4YTNjNTc0MGZhZCxCMnRHSWZMQg%3D%3D&b=t%3AAbM2GQelIABrceH_cxJ4Yw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fhsavinien.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F108896930037%2Fso-i-saw-your-post-about-different-bow-types-in&m=0) who presumably do not abuse their bodies quite so much.

  * For more about the effectiveness and tactics associated with these weapons, check out: [The Efficacy of the English Longbow](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=http%3A%2F%2Fmilitaryrevolution.s3.amazonaws.com%2FPrimary%2520sources%2FLongbow.pdf&t=YjM1YzJiYzk3YTQ0NzIxYTEwMDJlNDMxZmIxNjI5ZjZlZTY1NGY3NyxCMnRHSWZMQg%3D%3D&b=t%3AAbM2GQelIABrceH_cxJ4Yw&p=http%3A%2F%2Fhsavinien.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F108896930037%2Fso-i-saw-your-post-about-different-bow-types-in&m=0)




 

 


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